


necromantic

by amaelamin



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Humor, M/M, Magic Mirrors, Necromancy, Romance, romancy necromancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28335846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaelamin/pseuds/amaelamin
Summary: “What about this?”“Oh, um-” Yangyang’s worried voice broke into Ten’s thoughts as Ten was turned around by the customer and came face to face with searching eyes and a commanding stare.“Sir, I’m very sorry, but that mirror isn’t - he isn’t for sale. I was just about to put him away-”“Why not?” the man said, appraising Ten thoughtfully as Ten appraised him right back. Chestnut brown hair - expensive robes - honey skin, and the slightest warmth of power soaking into Ten’s frame from where the man was holding him up.“Well, sir…” Yangyang stopped, at a loss for words. Yangyang really was a sweetheart, Ten thought, smiling to himself.“I can be a bit of a bastard,” Ten supplied. “Is what he means. I’m not some cheap enchanted piece of glass. If you want to harness what I can do for you you need to be able to walk the talk. Rich pretty boys need not apply, if that’s all you are.”He heard Yangyang gasp, and then sigh deeply.The man grinned. “I’ll take him.”
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 30
Kudos: 173





	necromantic

Yangyang glares at the face in the mirror.

“This is your fourth time getting returned, Ten. We’ve been over this.”

Ten sticks out his tongue. “I thought you might be getting lonely, that’s all. Came back to see how you’re doing.”

“That customer said all you did was talk shit about her spellcasting ability and pass comments on her outfits. Do you not understand your role as a magic mirror?”

“Did you not see what she was wearing when she walked in here to return me?”

“You are a disembodied face inside a mirror, Ten. It is beyond you to comment on people’s fashion sense. Also I would like to make some money now and again as the owner of a struggling magic implements shop, not have to return it to people.”

“Admit it. If one day someone bought me and you never saw me again you’d miss me.”

Yangyang frowns. “You’re - I don’t know how this happened, but - yes, I like you. That still doesn’t mean I would turn away the five hundred thousand won you fetch as a top-grade magic mirror for the aid and facilitation of spellcasting and divination that you are supposed to be. I need to pay rent, Ten!”

Ten pouts. Yangyang relents.

“Look, maybe - maybe I’ll find something valuable to sell at that attic and basement sale I’m going to this weekend. Then I can keep you and I won’t ever have to deal with angry people coming back in here to complain about you being rude to them again.”

Ten perks up. “That’s the spirit!”

“I really hope I’m not going to regret it- Oh , hello! Welcome, sir! What brings you to this humble shop?”

Ten tried to see whom Yangyang was welcoming, the bell above the shop’s door tinkling, but he was set on the counter faced away from the entrance. Must have looked rich the way Yangyang hustled right over to them and proceeded to bow and scrape.

Ten took a chastened moment to reflect. Perhaps he was making Yangyang’s life a little difficult, but he just couldn’t belong to someone who messed up basic incantations and thought the proper way to address Ten was ‘Hey!’ Maybe if it was a person who understood just what Ten was capable of and what a great tool he could be in the right mage’s hands -

He listened to the sound of Yangyang’s and the customer’s footsteps around the front room, the warm mellow tones of the visitor’s voice seeming to embrace and reach out to every part of the little shop, caressing, searching. This one had power.

“What about this?”

“Oh, um-” Yangyang’s worried voice broke into Ten’s thoughts as Ten was turned around by the customer and came face to face with searching eyes and a commanding stare.

“Sir, I’m very sorry, but that mirror isn’t - he isn’t for sale. I was just about to put him away-”

“Why not?” the man said, appraising Ten thoughtfully as Ten appraised him right back. Chestnut brown hair - expensive robes - honey skin, and the slightest warmth of power soaking into Ten’s frame from where the man was holding him up.

“Well, sir…” Yangyang stopped, at a loss for words. Yangyang really was a sweetheart, Ten thought, smiling to himself.

“I can be a bit of a bastard,” Ten supplied. “Is what he means. I’m not some cheap enchanted piece of glass. If you want to harness what I can do for you you need to be able to walk the talk. Rich pretty boys need not apply, if that’s all you are.”

He heard Yangyang gasp, and then sigh deeply.

The man grinned. “I’ll take him.”

**

Ten felt himself being brought up stairs and waited until the man unwrapped the paper Yangyang had hastily wrapped Ten in. Yangyang’s parting ‘Purchases are non-returnable!’ was still ringing in Ten’s ears, and Ten scowled into the darkness.

We’ll see about that, he thought heatedly, even though he already knew that this latest owner wasn’t like the others. He was gorgeous, to begin with, and more powerful than any of his previous buyers. What kind of mage was this? At least for the time being it would not be a chore to have to look into his face during spellcasting.

The paper around Ten rustled as he was set upright, and Ten blinked against the afternoon sunlight streaming into a bedroom, simply done. Small succulents and candles lined the windowsill and tasteful pieces of furniture accented the room. It was airy and quiet, and finally Ten looked at the man adjusting Ten on top of what must be a dresser or chest of drawers.

So far, so good.

“What do you think?” he asked, gesturing towards the room. “Is the view to your liking?”

Ten raised an eyebrow. “It’s not terrible.”

“Do you know who I am?”

Ten raised the other eyebrow. “Should I?”

“My name is Johnny,” the man bowed a little. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Ten,” Ten answered, trying his best not to be charmed. “Why did you buy me?”

Johnny laughed, the sound warm and inviting. He delicately opened the windows with a flick of his wrist, the casual demonstration of magic not lost on Ten. Mastery of telekinesis was not a power just anybody had, even if they possessed the other Gifts.

“I needed a better tool of divination. To help in my work.”

“Which is?”

Johnny smiled again, opening the black bag he’d been carrying with him and starting to unpack it. A wallet. His handphone. Earphones. A largeish black tourmaline crystal, for protection. A silver knife, engraved with runes of -

Ten gasped. Johnny smiled wider, looking up at him.

“I hope we get along, don’t you?” Johnny tipped his head to the side, handsome face illuminated by the sunshine from the window and blinding Ten a little bit. Metaphorically. If he had a heart it’d be pounding.

This could either be very good, or very bad.

**

“Yangyang!”

Yangyang frowned, looking up and then around. “Ten?”

“Over here! By the incense holders!”

Yangyang got up from behind the shop’s counter and hurried over, still frowning until he saw Ten poorly reflected in the highly polished surface of a cauldron. “What are you doing here?”

“I had to talk to someone about this. The guy who bought me? He’s a necromancer, Yang. Did you know you were selling me to a necromancer?”

“He’s not a necromancer,” Yangyang answered, sitting down on the floor to avoid having to crouch down to talk to Ten. “Or at least, he’s not a bad necromancer.”

“What does whether he’s good or bad at necromancy have to do with it? He deals with the dead -”

“I didn’t mean his ability. He’s a necromancer, yes, but he works for the Supreme Mage’s ministry. He rights wrongs in the netherworld. Brings back people who have been banished there unjustly. Releases souls that are stuck. Exorcises spirits that have taken possession of innocent people. Etcetera and so on. Why are you staring at me like that?”

“How the hell do you know all this?”

“Hah,” Yangyang replied. “If you were less preoccupied with tormenting your owners and paid attention to the news once in a while you’d know who John Suh is, too. He’s famous.”

Ten blinked.

“I belong to someone famous? No wonder he asked if I knew who he was!”

Yangyang nodded. “Don’t screw it up, okay?”

“Such little faith in me,” Ten made a face, and then vanished with a smile. Yangyang shook his head and got back up off the floor.

“He’s coming right back to me, isn’t he?” he asked the empty shop in resignation.

**

“Hello,” Johnny greeted Ten courteously, closing the bedroom door behind him with a simple gesture of his head, and Ten materialised eagerly on the glass of his mirror. Since installing him in Johnny’s bedroom yesterday Johnny had come back from wherever he’d gone late at night and paid Ten little attention before going to bed behind a screen. At least he hadn’t done Ten the indignity of covering him up when unneeded, but Ten was restless.

“You called, master?” Ten said, innocently as possible, and didn’t miss the expression that flickered across Johnny’s face. Something to think about.

“What happened to the attitude you had when I first met you?” Johnny asked, looking at Ten out of the corner of his eye as he moved around his bedroom putting things away.

“I’m still waiting for you to prove yourself to me,” Ten told him. “Though I have to say I didn’t know then you were famous.”

“Oh,” Johnny threw up his hands. “ _Famous_. Half the people who think they know who I am just think I’m a necrophiliac or something equally distasteful. The work I do,” Johnny finally stopped in front of Ten. “Isn’t easy or glamorous. But the Ministry insists on using me as some kind of poster boy for its political campaigns.”

“So you don’t like the attention?” Ten asked, watching Johnny carefully.

Johnny grinned. “I never said that.”

Ten scoffed, Johnny’s smile affecting him more than he’d care to admit. 

“Tonight I need to find someone in the netherworld. Feeling up to it?”

“Are you?” Ten countered.

Johnny put both hands on Ten’s frame, thumbs lightly touching the cold mirror’s surface and leaned his head back, inhaling slowly. He began to mouth the words of the usual divining incantation, Ten distracted slightly by the way his adam’s apple moved in his slender throat.

When Johnny raised his head once more and opened his eyes they were completely black.

It happened so fast - Ten wasn’t used to this level of sheer power and mastery but Johnny didn’t even need to say the words before Ten already knew what he wanted to find; as if buoyed on the swiftest current Ten delved like a comet into the netherworld and hurtled towards the shade of the person Johnny was looking for; shining a spotlight onto her, a beacon for Johnny to follow. Johnny saw her, and ended the spell.

If Ten had had legs he’d have stumbled. He’d have had to sit down, fanning his face. He’d have had to have a calming glass of water.

“Are you alright?” Johnny asked, amused, his eyes now back to normal.

Ten didn’t have lungs and as such didn’t need to breathe; he was a manifestation of the power of the mirror because long ago the mages who started making magic mirrors thought it would be nice to have a human face to ask favours of and interact with. So why did he feel short of breath?

“I’ve never felt that before,” Ten admitted, wide-eyed. “That - enabling of my own power. Helping you was effortless.”

“I’m flattered,” Johnny murmured, smiling. “But surely I’m not your first.”

“You’re not,” Ten said, feeling uncharacteristically flustered. “But so far, you’re the best.”

“Compliment taken,” Johnny grinned. “You’re the best I’ve ever had, too. No one else compares.”

Ten had a strong feeling they might be talking about something else other than magic.

** 

“Yangyang!”

Yangyang looked over his shoulder at Ten, now hissing at him in the blurred shine of the breastplate of a suit of armour.

“Wait, I’m with a customer.”

“Yang, I think I’m in love with him.”

“Just a moment, ma’am- _what?_ ”

“He’s amazing. He’s so strong, Yang, he uses me in ways I’ve never been used before-”

“Ew!”

“I know, Yang, it’s terrible. I look forward all day to seeing him. I can’t wait for him to use me. He makes me feel things I’ve never known-”

“Okay. Who are you, and what have you done with Ten?”

Ten closed his eyes in mortification. “I’m disgusting. I know it. I want to slap myself but I have no hands.”

“This is rather concerning,” Yangyang said, frowning at Ten. “I didn’t know magic mirrors had feelings like that.”

“I wish we didn’t,” Ten replied forlornly. “I hate it. I try to harden myself against him and insult him or something but I can’t. He’s too amazing. And even if I do he just laughs at me and I melt into gross ectoplasm or whatever I am.”

“It’s been two weeks, Ten.”

“I know,” Ten wailed. “And he’s gotten me to divine things and people for him so many times already and each session felt like - like-” Ten screwed up his face in humiliation.

“Are you sure this isn’t just a crush?” Yangyang asked, then rolled his eyes at himself. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you.”

“What if he doesn’t feel the same,” Ten said in despair, ignoring Yangyang. “I’ll have to find a way to smash myself.”

“Or you could just serve him the way you’re intended to and enjoy the fact that you belong to a master who is powerful and nice to you and appreciates your abilities. How about that?”

Ten looked at Yangyang for a few moments, and then sighed. “You’re right.”

“It’s what you always wanted, isn’t it?” Yangyang smiled kindly. “And if you do anything to make him return you I’m putting you in the basement forever.”

Ten growled.

**

“Ten,” Johnny called softly, and Ten materialised after counting to ten, trying not to seem too eager.

“There you are,” Johnny smiled, tracing Ten’s cheek on the mirror’s surface with a finger. _Oh, hell_ , Ten thought. “I might be gone for longer tonight. I have to retrieve someone and I don’t know how long it will take.”

“Is it dangerous?” Ten asked, slight frown between his brows.

Johnny smiled, both easing Ten’s worry and amplifying it. “It’s always dangerous. But I’ll be fine. Just wanted you to know in case you started wondering where I was.”

“Be careful,” Ten mumbled, wanting to sink through the floor for how anxious Johnny’s words made him. “I’ll be waiting.”

“I know you will,” Johnny said, picking up his bag and pausing at his door. “I’ll be back, Ten. I’ll see you later.”

The door swung closed and Ten groaned, wishing he could bang his head against something.

He didn’t know how long he waited - hours, definitely - half the night? Possibly - and when Johnny stumbled back into his bedroom covered in splashes of blood of unknown origin on him Ten nearly yelled.

Johnny gave him an apologetic glance and slowly, painfully peeled off his jacket, and then his shirt, and with a look set them on fire on the floor of his bedroom. Magical fire that burnt blue and didn’t spread to anything else, burning the clothes until they were nothing but ash on the floorboards. Meanwhile Johnny raised an arm to look at the gash in his side, Ten nearly dying - as much as a magical mirror can die - both at the sight of Johnny’s own blood and so much bare skin. Johnny placed a hand carefully over the wound and murmured words, flinching as the flesh and skin knitted slowly and the blood eventually stopped flowing. 

“What happened?” Ten burst out finally, unable to contain himself much longer.

Johnny shrugged, looking exhausted. “Work hazards. The usual.”

“Are you alright?”

Johnny nodded, stumbling closer to the dresser Ten was placed on and grabbing the bottle of whiskey Ten knew Johnny kept there. Rarely used - only when the occasion called for it, apparently. He poured himself a shot into a glass and downed it, making a face at the burn. Ten smiled to himself despite the situation. Johnny really wasn’t a drinker.

“Did I worry you?”

Ten looked at Johnny, then away. “It’s fine. You’re fine now.”

“Did I worry you?” Johnny repeated again, slower this time and with the hint of a smirk on his face.

Ten grit his teeth. “Maybe.”

“That much, huh?” Johnny dropped into his desk chair with an exhale, still looking at Ten.

“You know you did,” Ten muttered, feeling like he wanted to disappear and regretting each word coming from his mouth. “I was waiting all night. I didn’t know if you were okay or not-”

Ten wasn’t sure how he did it, but one moment Ten was a magic mirror on the dresser and the next moment he was falling awkwardly off the dresser onto his hands and knees - painfully - and Johnny was there with a blanket grabbed hastily from his bed to throw over Ten’s naked body for modesty and to help him to his very new feet.

Ten stared dumbfounded at him, then stared back at the dresser where his mirror still stood, then stared down at himself. He wiggled toes he very emphatically did not possess a minute ago.

“Hi,” Johnny said, smiling hesitantly.

“Did you just-” Ten started, and then stopped, not knowing how to finish his sentence. “Did you just put me in a body?” He tried again.

“I formed you a body,” Johnny corrected. “You’re still what you are. Just… as a person.”

“Casually?? Just?? Transfigured me into flesh and bone??” Ten very near yelled, feeling hysterical at the sheer power Johnny had to just nonchalantly turn him human-shaped. “What??”

“Shh!” Johnny admonished, putting his hand over Ten’s mouth. “I share this official house with two other Ministry mages. They’re going to hear you. If you hadn’t realised, this is illegal.”

“Then why?” Ten moved away, wrapping the blanket around his new body self-consciously. Being too near to a shirtless Johnny while wearing no clothes himself was not a safe situation given all the new…possibilities.

“It’s nice to have someone who worries for me?” Johnny said ruefully. “This life is a lonely one and I- oh gods. I’m sorry. Look, I’ll turn you back-”

“You will do no such thing,” Ten ordered, and then blushed.

“Oh?” Johnny raised an eyebrow, pleased expression blooming all over his face. “You don’t- you don’t mind?”

“Oh, yourself,” Ten turned away, pretending to be annoyed, but when Johnny hesitantly took his hand and kissed the back of it gently Ten had to hide his furiously blushing face in Johnny’s shoulder to the mage’s delight.

“I’ll get you some clothes,” Johnny murmured into Ten’s hair.

“You will do no such thing,” Ten repeated, muffled, into Johnny’s shoulder, and felt Johnny’s laughter reverberate through his body, the heat of his hands seeping through the thin blanket into Ten’s skin where Johnny’s hands were resting on his waist.

“Oh?” Johnny said again, voice low and so deliciously warm.

“Oh, yourself,” Ten let the blanket fall to the floor.


End file.
